mastermind
verb (used with object)
to plan and direct (a usually complex project or activity), especially skillfully.
masterminded
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past participleof mastermind.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof mastermind.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
mastermindverb (used with object)to plan and direct (a usually complex project or activity), especially skillfully.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. El-Sayed has used Fight Agency, the consulting firm that masterminded the Mamdani mayoral campaign, for his digital and social-media strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
"We denounce and totally reject those claims that Africans are as guilty and complicit as those who masterminded this whole atrocity," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
That failure led to Arne Slot being sacked as Liverpool manager just 12 months after he masterminded the club's Premier League title triumph in his first season after succeeding Jurgen Klopp.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
A whole new genre of celebrity divorce: Slate’s Scaachi Koul considers how Bunnie Xo, an archetypical “Cool Girl,” seems to have masterminded a new strategy for getting divorced in the public eye.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
“In on it? Little girl, I masterminded it.”
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
